The average planned age of retirement is 63.2 years of age. However, more than one-third of respondents said they are uncertain when they will be able to exit the labour force. Of these, women (83.5 per cent) are more uncertain than men (69.8 per cent) regarding their planned future retirement.

Up to 19 per cent of respondents say they will never retire, found the report, co-sponsored by Aon Hewitt.

A full 45.6 per cent of respondents said they plan to continue to work part-time or on a contract basis after their official retirement, and the percentage increases with age. About 51 per cent of those aged 45 to 64, and 60 per cent of those aged 65 and older said they will continue working past their official retirement date.

"Financial literacy among Canadians is also a concern", said Judith MacBride-King, lead research director at the Conference Board of Canada. "About half of the survey respondents rated themselves as average, and one in five note that their skills are below average or poor. This is a particular concern when it comes to women, younger respondents and those with lower household incomes — all of whom rated their financial literacy skills particularly low."

Respondents who reported excellent financial literacy skills are anywhere from four to seven times more likely to be confident that they will be able to retire when they want, understand the income they will receive from public pension plans, and know how much they need to save, said the report.